


To Be Exposed

by AnjuSchiffer



Category: Maribat - Fandom
Genre: Bio!dad Bruce, Gen, Lila salt, MariBat
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-04
Updated: 2020-05-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:53:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,054
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23994067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnjuSchiffer/pseuds/AnjuSchiffer
Summary: Marinette just wanted a peaceful dinner reunion with her family, but of course, things never went according to plan. While Marinette never told her family about Lila's lies, they ended up finding out about it. Damian took it upon himself to expose his sister's classmate.
Comments: 16
Kudos: 573





	To Be Exposed

**Author's Note:**

> Context: HM has been defeated thanks to a certain family butting in. Also, Gabriel isn’t HM here and is a good dad, though he is still strict. Lila is still herself, spouting lies the moment she got to school and often got into arguments with Marinette. Everyone believes some of her lies since Marinette would find evidence as to why certain things couldn’t happen and why she couldn’t have stolen ‘x’ thing…

Marinette fidgeted in her seat, counting the seconds until class was over.

“Marinette, please stop tapping your pencil against the desk,” Miss Bustier sternly said, causing the girl to burst into a red blush, even reaching the tips of her ears. 

The class giggled, except for Rossi.

“Sorry. Won’t happen again,” Marinette said, burrowing her head into her crossed arms, Alya patting her back in comfort.

As Miss Bustier continued with her lecture, the doors burst open, everyone turning to see who it was. Meanwhile, Marinette stood in her seat, gaping at the person.

“Jason!” Marinette walked down to him, noticing that he was out of breath. “What are you doing here?”

“ _ Lutin.  _ We have to go,” Jason quietly whispered, Marinette paling.  _ Lutin. _ Something was wrong.

“Jason, what-”

“Despite seeing that the two of you know each other,” Miss Bustier cut off, looking at Jason with narrowed eyes. “I can’t let you just burst into my classroom while class is in session. If you need to speak-”

“This is a family emergency lady,” Jason growled, pulling Marinette behind him. “I already signed the necessary documents to take Mari with me. If you have any more questions or concerns, call us.” 

With that, Marinette and Jason were gone, Miss Bustier calling for an independent study and went to the office for a call, leaving the class abuzz, allowing Lila to use the chaos to her favor.

“Oh poor Marinette!” She cried, placing her hands against her face, a tear slipping from her eye. “I wonder what happened with her family that she had to leave so abruptly?” 

“Why don’t you call your Damiboo then?” Rose suggested, everyone then remembering something Lila told them once before, circling around Lila to see if she’d call him then and there.

“Dudette’s right Lila.” Nino added, waving the phone in his hand. “Why don’t you ask Damian what’s up with their family?”

“Th-their?” Lila asked, wondering what the hell was going on. What if, what if they found out that she really doesn’t- did Marinette plan this?! And wait. Why should Damian know? He’s a Wayne, not a Dupain-Cheng!

“W-Wait, do you really not know?” Max asked, wondering if what Mari told him some time ago was indeed true. 

Was Lila really lying about dating her brother?

“Know what?”

“You really don't, do you?” Alya said, glancing at the others crowded around Lila, Lila feeling beads of sweat running down her face. “We never asked you about this because we thought you were just pretending -seeing as you and Mari don’t get along- but it really seems like you don’t know.” Alya looked at everyone, nodding before she returned her attention to Lila. “Your Damiboo… he’s Marinette’s biological older brother.” 

* * *

“You pulled me out of class, for this?!” Marinette yelled, gesturing at the scene in front of him.

“Pixie Pop, you don’t understand.” Jason reasoned, watching as Dick chased Damian around the hotel lobby, Damian clawing at Dick as he was caught. “He’s the only one not aboard with going to dinner at-“

“You weren’t onboard either Jason,” Tim exposed, earning a glare from Jason. “You hate wearing suits after all.”

Marinette sighed as she pinched the bridge of her nose. 

Yes, she was looking forward to spending time with her brothers, but right now was not the best time.

Her idiot brothers were screaming at each other, yet to draw out their weapons and kill each other. 

Dad wasn’t to set foot in Paris until later today, meaning Marinette was the one to set these morons straight. 

It was time to do it to them. 

The four boys continued to bicker, Dick holding Damian down as he finally managed to place a bow on him, only for Damian to yank it off. Jason was spilling nonsense out of his mouth to Tim’s annoying remarks when Jason caught a few sobs coming from their younger sister. 

When Tim noticed that Jason had gone quiet and had let go of his shirt, his own voice began to trail into silence. 

When Damian realized that his brothers had stopped bickering, he caught the hiccups that escaped from Marinette, his fussing coming to a halt as Dick finally picked up on his little sister’s cries. 

The four quickly circled Marinette, each of them trying to grab her attention. 

“Maribug, what happened?” Dick asked, lifting her face before she smacked his hand away, her cries growing louder. 

“Pixie, I’m sorry I was fighting! I won’t do it again,” Jason offered, smiling when Marinette’s sobs began to grow quiet. “Until after dinner is done, that is.” Lips quivered before sobs escaped her. 

“Todd, you had one job!” Damian growled, placing his hands on Marinette’s shoulders. “Mari, what’s wrong?”

Marinette wipes off some of her tears and a bit of snot that dared to drip off her nose. 

“I-I was looking forward to tonight’s dinner… it’s been a year since we’ve seen each other, bu-but you guys keep fighting a-and,” Marinette sniffled. “And now I’m wondering if-I’d maybe this was too much to ask for.” Marinette rose her head to look at everyone, her doe eyes piercing all of her brother’s chests. “Sh-should I… should I call off di-“

“NO!” The boys yelled in unison, now spilling apologies towards their sister, smothering her with hugs as they promised to keep their bickering to a minimum. 

Meanwhile, Marinette let a smile play on her lips, glad to see her brothers now under control. 

As much as she hated having to resort to tears to get them under control, sometimes she knew it’s one of the few cards she had to play when necessary… unlike a certain some-

…

Maybe this is why she always lied… did she like the attention? The notion of being the beloved center of attention?

Marinette could only wonder as her brothers helped her get ready for the family dinner in three hours.

* * *

Lila looked at her phone and then at the restaurant before her. Coccinelle Trattoria.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Lila muttered, walking into the restaurant, taking in its radiance. 

White marble covered the entrance from top to bottom, velvet red rugs underneath her feet. And that was just the entrance. 

“Name?” A man asked her, Lila jumping at the question. 

“Rossi, sir.” She provided, watching as his brows furrowed. “Meeting someone named Agreste.”

“Right, right.” He said to himself, turning back a few pages. “Right this way, miss.”

Lila followed, watching as the red carpet shifted into a black one, dark oak beneath it peaking through, running all along the railings and covering the room from top to bottom. 

Lila was taken aback how breathtaking the plain decor was, the dimmed chandeliers adding a nice touch to the dark interior. 

As she walked down the few steps of stairs, she was guided towards the right side of the restaurant, a certain blue-eyed person catching her attention, causing Lila to do a double take.

Turning her head towards the left, there, in a side room, away from the public eye, Lila spotted her… 

What was Marinette doing here? And why was she alone?

“Miss, if you would?” Lila jumped at the voice, apologizing before being led to a back table.

There was Gabriel Agreste, his sharp gaze piercing Lila. 

“It’s a pleasure to meet you sir.” Lila said, giving a small bow. “My name is Lila Rossi, although I’m pretty sure that you already know that.” Lila said with a small chuckle, shutting up when Gabriel remained unimpressed. “I know you’re a busy man, so I’ll get to the point.” Lila opened up her phone and slid it towards him, watching as he took it. “You wanted evidence, so here it is.” She grinned as she watched a small tick form, her cue to take a seat. “Dupain-Cheng is dating your son. I. Wasn’t. Lying.”

* * *

“-and that pretty much wraps up my school year so far,” Marinette said with a smile, groaning when Dick decided to pinch her cheek. 

“We’re so proud of you Maribug!”

“Wow… another studybug,” Jason said with a roll of his eyes, earning glares from his three younger siblings. “What? It’s true.” Jason pointed at each of them. “Tech. Fashion. Art History.” 

The three let out huffs, Marinette rolling her eyes as she watched Damian and Tim try to show that they weren’t studybugs, only to realize they just proved the opposite.

Dick now had to try to prevent the debate from spiraling out, only to be ganged up on and now being bullied over this one time he wanted to try fighting in heels (which ended in a sprained pair of ankles).

“So Marinette, anything else you want to talk about?” Bruce asked, watching as Marinette stuffed her face with some pasta.

“Not really. Oh!” Fishing into her purse, Marinette pulled out her phone and showed her father an unfinished dress form. “There’s this upcoming fashion competition! And I, um…” Marinette averted her eyes from her father’s softened ones. “I-I need to buy some fabric to-”

“Consider it done,” Bruce said with a smile, patting her head, a blush rising from Marinette. “We can go after tomorrow morning if you want to choose it yourself.” 

Marinette beamed, tackling a side hug to her father, catching everyone’s attention.

“Thanks Dad,” Marinette whispered. “Thanks for being here even though I know you’re very busy.” Bruce simply smiled, bringing Marinette closer and patted her head.

“I’ll keep doing my best to see you Nightingale,” Bruce said, wondering why the world was so against him.

This was their first family dinner in a long while. If he remembered correctly, the last time everyone got together was a year ago… for Alfred’s-

“Hey.” Jason interrupted. “It’s that Lila bi-”

“Lila?” Everyone chimed in, Marinette stiffening before feeling her hands ball into fists.

“H-How you guys know her name?” Marinette asked, watching as Rossi came into view, standing next to- “Mr. Agreste!” She didn’t notice how pale everyone was, except for Bruce and Damian.

Marinette jumped off her seat and ran to the duo, grabbing Lila’s hand, making the fox face her.

“Lila. What are- How do you know Mr. Agreste?” Lila huffed, jerking her hand away from Marinette.

“This doesn’t concern you Marinette.”

“Actually it does.” Gabriel spoke, looming over Marinette. “Can you explain these pictures to me Miss Dupain-Cheng?”

“What pictures?” Marinette asked, Lila shoving a phone to her face.

“These pictures.”

Marinette took the phone with shaky hands, swiping each picture, feeling her blood drain from her face.

“H-How did you get these?” Marinette gasped out, giving the phone back, never seeing the smirk on Lila’s face.

“So these are real.” Gabriel spoked, Lila quickly turned to him, eyes wide.

Did he not believe them when she showed them to him? But! But he reacted to them!

“Marinette, what is going on here?” Damian asked, placing a hand on Marinette, feeling rage take over him when he saw unshed tears pool into her eyes. “Which one of you assholes-”

Bruce quickly placed a hand over Damian’s mouth while he brought Marinette closer to him.

“Forgive my son, Mr. Agreste,” Bruce apologized, glaring at Damian. “He has… an unusual way to express his feelings.”

“Mr. Wayne,” Gabriel said, seeing Rossi pale upon hearing the name. “It’s a surprise to see you here.”

“Same here.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be in Gotham, getting ready for your speech for the opening of the new orphanage?”

“I am,” Bruce admitted, patting Marinette’s head, feeling her relax a bit. “But spending time with one’s child always takes priority, don’t you agree?” 

“That I must.” Gabriel said, giving the fellow business a smile. “Just earlier I was cheering my son, Adrien, at his fencing competition. He didn’t win, but he came in second nonetheless.”

“Was Kagami the one he went up against?” Marinette asked, causing everyone to look at her.

“Yes,” Gabriel said sternly. “How did you know that?” Marinette let out a sigh, now standing a bit firmer than before.

“Adrien spoke to me about it the other day. Through the phone that is,” Marinette added, Damian wondering why she had faltered in her confidence.

“And how  _ did _ you meet my son?”

“Don’t you remember her, Agreste?” Damian asked, standing in front of Mari. “All of us attended your wife’s funeral.”

Lila froze. Funeral? What funeral?

“Surely I would’ve remembered her. After all, she is the only biological daughter of Wayne’s. Everyone would’ve known about this, knowing how Bruce is when it comes to talking about his beloved children. The press does keep track of every child you’ve adopted and helped make after all.”

Bruce wanted to groan, but knew he was right. However, it didn’t help to hear snickering coming from the room behind him.

Marinette stood there, wondering what was missing. 

She had met Adrien and Gabriel. Adrien even introduced her to him, although she didn’t utter a word to him. 

Word…

Talk…

Speaking…

He was right… He would’ve remembered her  _ if _ he did indeed meet her, only that he never actually did...

He never met her. He had met- 

“Do you remember Cassandra at the funeral Mr. Agreste?” Marinette quickly chirped, gaining everyone’s attention.

“Why yes, I did meet her.” Gabriel said, wondering why she would mention the other Wayne. “A bit too quiet, but Adrien did mention playing with her. He said he would never forget the blue-eyed girl with freckles that played with him. He always asked to see- it was you.” Gabriel pieced together, looking at Bruce and then at Marinette. “You hid her in plain sight.”

That was right. He  _ had  _ met the girl. But looking back, he remembered that the girl he met had freckles, unlike the girl he thought he had met. 

When he looked back, Gabriel had remembered seeing Cassandra at the Wayne Gala last year. The girl looked almost identical to the one standing before him, except Cassandra had black hair unlike Marinette… and… she didn’t have freckles scattered across her face. 

Freckles are a nuisance to hide, often having to build layer upon layer to hide them, something that was unacceptable for photoshoots.

“Sorry that I never introduced myself before, sir.” Marinette said, stepping up and doing a little bow. “My name is Marinette Wayne, that is, if you find me outside of Paris.” Marinette let out a nervous laugh. “I go by Marinette Dupain-Cheng here in Paris, to honor my host parents and to keep my identity a secret.”

“S-So you’re actually a Wayne?” Lila asked, using everything in her mind to prevent herself from panicking. “S-so Alya wasn’t lying?”

“If anyone were to be lying, it would be you Rossi.” Marinette said, letting out a slight huff. “I’m not the one going around saying I know famous people.”

“But you do!” Lila exclaimed, showing her a picture of Marinette with Jagged Stone. “You’re always talking about you working for Jagged-”

“It was Jagged who told the world that I was the one behind his glasses and album art Lila! Hell, he did a whole one hour special in which he visited my house and asked questions on how I got inspired to make those things.”

“Then what about the pictures?” Lila asked, her voice jumping an octave higher than usual “Explain them!” Marinette pursed her lips.

“About those pictures,” Marinette looked at her father and then at Gabriel. Hopefully she would just get out with being grounded. “You see, I-”

“She bribed me and Jason towards helping her take down your security system so that she can bring Adrien over some anime related things and her quiches, which mind you, are the best in all of Paris,” Tim spoke up, lazily showing everyone some pictures of the rest of the people. “She also climbed over your fence and climbed her way to Adrien’s room.”

“Timothy!” Marinette wailed, curling into a ball. “You weren’t supposed to say anything!”

“We can’t keep getting blackmailed by you Pixie.” Jason said, resting his elbow on her shoulder. “So we had to resort to this… sorry.”

“But wait Maribug!” Dick said, jogging up to the family, Lila wondering just how many siblings this girl had. “Are you, or are you not dating the Agreste boy?”

“I’m not dating him!” Marinette groaned, turning to Gabriel. “I’m helping him set up a perfect love confession to the guy he likes!” Once realizing what she said, she covered her hands.

_ Please forgive me Chaton… _

“Confession?” Gabriel asked. “Is it the Luka boy that helps him with his guitar classes?”

“Yes?” Marinette provided, earning a laugh from the man.

“Seems like Natalie lost the bet.”

“Bet?”

“I knew there was something between the boys, but I never mentioned it.” Gabriel walked away, before turning to the Waynes. “Thank you for telling me Marinette.” He bowed. “Also, there’s a door for a reason. Use it next time.” With that, Gabriel was off, leaving Lila at the mercy of the Waynes.

“So you’re Lila Rossi?” Jason asked, crossing his arms. “We’ve been wanting to meet you for a loong while.”

“Jason.” Bruce hissed, watching Marinette frown. “Why don’t we let Marinette handle this?”

“And listen to this idiot keep claiming that she knows us? No.” Jason dragged Lila into the room they had just left, Tim, Dick and Damian trailing behind.

“Dad, please, don’t let them hurt her,” Marinette pleaded. “Yes, she’s a, whatever you want to call her, but she doesn’t deserve to be tortured by them. If anything, she needs help.” Marinette looked at her father. “A therapist if anything.”

Bruce sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I’ll see what I can do.”

* * *

“-and that’s pretty much what happened.” Marinette said, grabbing Adrien’s hands. “I’m so sorry Chaton, I really didn’t mean to-”

“Don’t apologize Mari.” Adrien chuckled. “If anything, it helped to come out of the closet a bit easier.”

“I-It did?”

“Yeah!” Adrien exclaimed, wrapping himself around Mari. “I don’t have to keep hiding it from him anymore.” He squeezed harder, making Mari let out a yelp. “Thank you.”

Marinette could only smile.

“Do you think Lila’s still going to keep bothering you?” Marinette let out a sigh.

“She might, she might not. Although something tells me that tomorrow is going to be a pain in the ass.”

* * *

Marinette let out a sigh as she walked down the school steps, Alya at her side.

“So you told her about me being, you know, a Wayne?”

“Sorry girl, it’s just that… how do you put it? Necessary?” Marinette arched a brow. “It was!”

“I’m just worried about her.” Now it was Alya’s turn to arch a brow. “My brothers know about what she’s been doing, gathering information behind my back...and all day I’ve been getting chi-”

“Rossi, there you are.” Marinette quickly spun around, her eyes widening as her eyes landed on her brother approaching Rossi. She watched as some of her classmates giggled, thinking that Damian was here to pick up Rossi, which he was… but not with the intentions they believed he thought. “Been looking for you.”

“Da-Damian! What are you doing here?”

“Thought I’d come to see you,” Damian said, giving her a small smile. “And I have a gift for you.”

Marinette could only watch with horror as Damian handed a vanilla envelope to her, Damian enjoying how the blood from her face drained. 

“O-oh what’s this?”

“A gift, for our anniversary. What else?”

“Anniversary?”

“Of the day we met,” Damina said, hearing some girls squealing in the distance. “And the last day I’m ever going to see your damn face.”

“Wha-what?”

“This envelope contains a nice pile of lawsuits from me to you, a majority of them being centered around defamation...” Damian descended the stairs, before coming to a halt. “If we do see each other again, I hope it’s for a good reason and not because of this stupid, childish game of yours. Also, treat my sister well. If you don’t,” Damian let out a chuckle. “Well, you already know what Jason’s going to do to you.”

Lila collapsed to the ground, Rose and Mylene running to her side, asking what Damian had meant by that and if Damian was telling the truth.

Had she lied to them?

Marinette watched as Damian walked up to her and Alya, a smile on his face.

“What possessed you to do that?” Marinette snarled, Damian’s smile dropping.

“I did what I had to.”

“Showering her in lawsuits wasn’t the way to go and you know that!”

“So what did you want me to do? Praise her?” Damian huffed. “Listen Mari. Nothing good is going to come from her if she doesn’t-”

“Therapy.” Marinette sternly said, looking Damian in the eyes. “She needs help.” Marinette looked at Alya, the girl blinking before understanding. With a quick bye, Alya left two siblings alone. “If therapy helped us get together, if it helped Jason and Dick talk to Dad once again, it has to help her too… don’t you think?”

“You’re too soft, Mari,” Damian said, leaving her on her own as he got into his bike. 

Mari watched as he rode away, leaving her with her thoughts.

* * *

After weeks of trying to get Lila to talk to her, Marinette finally gave up.

Lila didn’t want anything to do with her.

_ “I don’t need your help Dupain-Cheng! You’ve already helped thanks to your brother’s lawsuits against me! Thanks to him, my mother-” _

Marinette shook the conversation from her head, wrapping her arms around her knees. She heard her bedroom door creak, listening as a pair of footsteps walk in, a back sliding down beside her.

“Marinette, what’s wrong?” Bruce asked, wondering why his youngest was feeling down.

“I need to fix something, but I don’t think I can do it alone.” Marinette admitted, looking up to her father.

“Just say the word and I’ll do my best to help.”

“Thanks Dad.”

* * *

Marinette avoided Lila like the plague, only talking to her if necessary. Aside from that, she never spoke to the Italian. 

But that didn’t matter to her anymore.

Bruce had helped Lila’s mother get another job- a consultant under WE, meaning Lila had to move to Gotham with her mother since her mother took the job eagerly.

“You’re too soft Mari.” Damian said as he closed his textbook. He crumpled the paper he was working on and threw it to the fireplace in front of them. Marinette hummed as she sketched in her notebook, wiggling her feet under the coffee table. “But that’s your definition of justice.”

“I guess it is.”

“And you managed to execute such an easy plan to get your desired outcome.” Damian said with a smile, sometimes wondering how they easily underestimated his sister. 

Marinette simply smiled as she finished drawing a curled up fox.

The minute Lila’s mother accepted the job, Lila was enrolled at Gotham Academy. There, she had to take a few exams and interviews to create her schedule for the upcoming semester. Interviews were made in person, which led to the school telling Lila that she needed to go to Dr.Quinzel for a final examination.

“Lila needs help. She isn’t lying simply because she wants to and can. There must be a reason behind it.” Marinette stated matter of factly. “She can change. I know she can.”

“And if she does?”

“Then I hope we can start things over.” Marinette looked over to her brother, watching him throw another paper ball into the fire. “Or at the very least have a proper conversation with each other.”

“Then let’s hope that she proves you right. If not,” Damian didn’t need to finish the rest. 

If she proved her wrong, Marinette’s efforts would’ve been in vain.

“She will change.” Marinette softly said, tapping on her sketchbook, a ladybug emerging from thin air. “At least, I hope she will.”

Because if she did, then Marinette will finally be at peace with herself.

After all, it was her fault that Lila was so hostile to her.

She should’ve never told the class that Lila wasn’t Marinette Wayne’s best friend. 

She should’ve never told the class that she was Marinette Wayne and that was the reason why Lila wasn’t her best friend.

If she hadn’t exposed her like that.

If she didn’t...then maybe, just maybe…

They could’ve been friends.


End file.
